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The Scottish Government has no specific plans to carry out a national alcohol needs assessment at the moment, but recognises the benefits of needs assessments to help develop our strategic priories for improving care and support for people impacted by alcohol.

Local areas currently rely on their own specific needs assessments, which we encourage them to undertake. The forthcoming UK-wide clinical guidelines for alcohol treatment will also underline the benefits of local needs assessments.

We are currently engaging with partner organisations including delivery bodies and the voices of those with lived and living experience to identify actions that will help develop and deliver future recovery focused systems of care.

I can confirm we will provide an update on the roll-out of the Health and Social Care app in Summer 2025 as set out in our Operational Improvement Plan, as well as in the answer to question S6W-35982 on 28 March 2025.

All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.parliament.scot/parliamentarybusiness/28877.aspx

The Scottish Government recognises that transport noise is a concern, can be distressing, and has an impact on health and well-being. That is why we are working with our partners – including Police Scotland - to implement a range of actions to reduce noise. These are set out in Transport Scotland’s Transportation Noise Action Plan.

Direct measurement of noise levels for enforcement is a new and emerging technology. Police Scotland do not currently have this capability. However, Transport Scotland are working actively with partners to determine its effectiveness, and potential application. Otherwise, it is for Police Scotland to deploy specialist noise equipment as they see fit. While there are no measured legal limits to road noise for vehicles in use, it is illegal to modify the exhaust system to make a vehicle noisier after it has been ‘type approved’. Police Scotland can also take action if a vehicle’s silencer doesn’t work in the way it was designed or if someone is driving in a way that creates too much noise.

The Scottish Government is responsible for setting the overall policy direction of mental health services, and for working with and funding NHS Health Boards and local authorities to ensure they plan and deliver appropriate local services. The design and management of these services is for local NHS Boards and local authorities to decide, and each will have their own arrangements in place.

CAMHS is a specialist mental health service and is not the correct service for children seeking a diagnosis for a neurodevelopmental condition, unless they have a co-existing mental health condition. For many young people, it is more likely that a neurodevelopmental pathway will ensure that the right help and support is provided. This approach is intended to ensure that young people who need support for their mental health from CAMHS are able to receive it in a timely manner, and also that specialist neurodevelopmental support is available whenever needed

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-37322 on 19 May 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

The Scottish Government fully recognises the need for improved access to detoxification services. This is an issue we are keen to see addressed through our strategy. Improving access to effective detoxification services is essential to ensure people can access help to reduce or stop drinking safely, avoiding acute withdrawal.

We are seeing more residential rehabilitation providers being able to offer in-house detox to prepare people for rehabilitation.

We are working with providers and other partners to discuss a wider set of residential harm reduction support – this includes stabilisation, crisis care, detox and long-term care for issues such as alcohol-related brain damage.

Our forthcoming National Specification for alcohol services will emphasise the requirement to provide a full range of services, including detox.

The requirement to provide evidence of letting to assessors to ensure compliance with the thresholds for self-catering holiday accommodation to be included in the valuation roll was introduced from April 2022 to counter a known tax avoidance tactic for second homes.

Assessors undertake annual audits to ensure that self-catering accommodation entered on the valuation roll meets the statutory requirements to be classed as non-domestic property. To provide clarity to self-catering accommodation providers on these requirements, and to provide greater certainty regarding the consequences of failure to meet the requirements, a statutory deadline to respond to requests for evidence was introduced from 1 April 2024. If evidence is not provided to the Assessor by the deadline, or if it is insufficient to establish if the requirements have been met, the Assessor must remove the property from the valuation roll under the current statutory framework.

The Scottish Government has no immediate plans to alter the rules for self-catering properties, however we do keep all policies under review and routinely engage with stakeholders on any issues with the operation of the system and associated legislation.

I refer the member to the answer to the question S6W-34345 on 28 February 2025. All answers to written Parliamentary Questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at https://www.parliament.scot/chamber-and-committees/written-questions-and-answers

We are committed to ensuring that children and young people have the opportunity to learn about substance use and its impact on life choices and health. Curriculum for Excellence already provides the opportunity to explore the risks associated with a variety of substances including alcohol, medicines, drugs, tobacco and solvents. We recognise that education alone will not resolve the harmful abuse of substances, but it is an important strand within a broad range of measures across communities that are designed to tackle this issue.

There are no plans to introduce information on the dangers of methanol poisoning to the school curriculum. We do not take a prescriptive approach to the curriculum in Scotland and it is up to individual schools and local authorities to design approaches to help them deliver relevant and engaging learning.

Following the announcement in December 2023, Education Scotland has been leading on development and delivery of the new Curriculum Improvement Cycle (CIC). This represents a planned and systemic approach to strengthening the curriculum to ensure it remains forward looking, and supports more consistent teaching and learning experiences and improved attainment and achievement of our children and young people. The CIC, which covers all curricular areas including Health and Wellbeing (HWB), is considering all curricular areas and key aspects – including the subject area of HWB, where work is already underway, drawing on robust interrogation of evidence and a co-design process with practitioners and wider stakeholders.

The Public Health Scotland CAMHS waiting times statistics capture children and young people who meet the CAMHS criteria. We continue to see a significant and sustained improvement in CAMHS waiting times, despite continuing high demand from children and young people who need mental health support.

The CAMHS waiting time statistics do not include children seeking a neurodevelopmental assessment unless they have a comorbid mental health condition because they do not meet the CAMHS criteria. This is stated in the publication of CAMHS statistics.

CAMHS is a specialist mental health service and is simply not the appropriate service for children and young people seeking diagnosis of a neurodevelopmental condition, unless they are seeking support for a co-existing mental health condition. For many young people, support through a neurodevelopmental pathway will be more appropriate.